hey are the
nameless, face-
less figures shown only from the waist-down, blissfully unaware of the cameras tracking their movements and already preparing the segment on the six o’clock news about these ordi-nary people who share one common attribute:

Obesity.

And more and more often in recent years, these figures are not adults, but children.

On Feb. 9, first lady Michelle Obama detailed on "Good Morning America" what she referred to as a "very ambitious" goal to end childhood obesity within one generation.

Ambitious indeed, because, according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years, so that in 2008, 19.6 percent of children ages 6 to 11 and 18.1 percent of 12 to 19-year-olds were considered obese. The prevalence of obesity has risen so much from 1980 that many experts have begun to refer to it as an "epidemic."

In elementary school, running and screaming and Capture the Flag-ing were encouraged by the half-hour of recess every day and P.E. several times a week. Though we couldn’t predict it then, those days on the playground would be obliterated by six-period days and intense academics that would steamroll any available time we had to just be kids.

And, now, there is the possibility that even our little elementary school counterparts may be missing out on that experience, too. In the words of the first lady, "Because of budget cuts, we’re losing recess, we’re losing gym classes."

It’s very easy to wonder why in more than 200 years of our country’s history, Barack Obama is the first president to actually make any headway in addressing the obesity issue. It’s very easy to lay the blame on those big companies, on the bailouts, on the economy in general, but there is certainly a sense of personal responsibility at stake here, as well.

The government doesn’t drives us up and down Apalachee Parkway at lunch every day. The government doesn’t choose an extra half-hour of "Jersey Shore" over a half-hour walking the dog. The government doesn’t get out of breath huffing and puffing between classes on a daily basis. The government hasn’t done this to us. We have.

Florida Virtual School, an online alternative to courses that can be conducted from the safety of one’s home, is utilized by hundreds of students every year. And its most populated course?

Online physical education.

But how many students perform the exercises requested by the online diagrams when it’s as easy as having their parents click a button that acknowledges that they’ve done so?

Any soon-to-be college student is acquainted with the words "freshman 15," a term that comes from the average 15 pounds that freshmen gain in their first year due to a diet consisting mostly of Ramen noodles and little to no exercise.

The fact that the government has to intervene at all when there is so much technology and research at our disposal is just sad. There are always healthier, affordable alternatives to a cheeseburger and fries in smoothies and natural foods free of artificial sweeteners and preservatives. And on top of that there are over 100 different exercise clubs and sports facilities in Tallahassee alone, from yoga and spin class to belly dancing and ballet to tennis and track. Not to mention home gyms, treadmills, Wii Fit systems and the exercise videos on TV easily accessed at the touch of a button.

It’s time to face facts. The Obamas have set the bar high, and the government cannot and will not stand over us at every meal to ensure that we’re eating well. It won’t be there cracking the whip to force us to take a walk every once in a while. At the end of the day, it’s not the government whose health suffers, whose life becomes more difficult and shorter due to the risks of obesity, whose children are at risk for being overweight before they’re even conceived.

It’s us.

n